HOUSTON – Two Houston clinic
owners are expected in federal court following the return of a 27-count
indictment alleging a conspiracy to commit wire fraud, kickbacks and money
laundering, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez along with Special
Agent in Charge Scott Pierce of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Office of
Inspector General (OIG) - Contract Fraud Investigations Division and Special
Agent in Charge Steven Grell of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)-OIG.

A grand jury returned the
indictment Nov. 2, 2017, against Anukul Dass aka Andy Dass, 41, and his sister
Anurag Dass aka Anna Dass, 46, both of Houston, along with Stephen Vincent
Hunt, 67, formerly of Houston and now of Waxahachie. The Dass siblings are
expected to make their appearances before U.S. Magistrate Nancy Johnson today
at 10:00 a.m. Hunt turned himself in and made his initial appearance earlier
this week.

Anukul and Anurag Dass
operated A&A Pain and Wellness Center Inc. at 6600 Harwin Drive in
Southwest Houston. From 2010 to 2017, the indictment alleges they filed false
claims the Office of Worker Compensation Programs (OWCP) for patients that Hunt
directed to the clinic. Hunt was allegedly a former injured employee with the
U.S. Postal Service (USPS) who filed his own injury claim with OWCP.

The Dass siblings allegedly
conspired with Hunt for him to direct injured federal workers to A&A Pain
and Wellness Center for medical treatment and health care services. In return,
the indictment alleges Hunt would receive a fee as payment from the center for
each claim OWCP paid. Hunt also allegedly charged injured federal workers he
referred a fee for his representation and services through a company he
controlled under the name “Zentec.”

Anna Dass was the manager of
Clinical Operations at A&A, while Anukul Dass was the director, according
to the indictment. Anna Dass allegedly filed false claims for services which
were not performed or were “upcoded” and billed at a higher rate than services
actually performed. From 2010 to 2017, A&A billed OWCP for more than $9.1
million. OWCP allegedly paid $7.2 million for those claims according to the
allegations.

“We are gratified to have
contributed to this investigation and applaud the exceptional work by the
investigative team for both protecting patient safety and overall program
costs,” said Pierce. “Along with our law enforcement partners, the USPS-OIG
will continue to aggressively investigate those who engage in fraudulent
activities intended to defraud federal benefit programs and the Postal Service.”

“An important mission of
DOL-OIG is to investigate allegations of medical provider fraud in the OWCP,”
said Grell. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to
investigate these types of allegations.”

If convicted of the conspiracy
or the kickback allegations, each faces a penalty of up to five years in
prison. The wire fraud carries a possible 20-year maximum sentence, while a
conviction for money laundering could result in as much as 10 years
imprisonment. All of the charges also carry a possible fine of $250,000.

USPS-OIG and DOL-OIG
conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cedric L. Joubert is
prosecuting this case.

Comments:
Good Job! Keep up the good work.

I'm sure there are many still out there so everyone needs to keep their eyes peeled.

And, don't be afaid or too busy to report such issues.

I sure will!

Posted by Patrisha at 11/13/2017 4:26:51 PM

Sounds like a family affair...

Posted by Chevy at 11/13/2017 8:22:00 PM

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